KUCHING: About 350 local and Bumiputera contractors attended Sarawak Energy’s “Contractors’ Briefing – Creating Opportunities in Sarawak Energy” event held from last Wednesday to Thursday.
The briefing was to encourage and support local and Bumiputera participation in the state-owned energy development group and integrated power utility’s contract and procurement activities.
At the event, the contractors received the good news that performance bond and retention sums would be reduced from 10 percent to 5 percent respectively, resulting in a reduction in maximum exposure of 10 percent for both subjects, down from 20 percent previously.
Local contractors may also opt to build up their performance bond through staggered payments by way of deduction from interim payments.
This follows the well-received initiative rolled out in 2017 where bid bonds for Sarawakian tenderers were also waived.
“Sarawak Energy (SEB) is wholly government owned and we have a strong sense of responsibility to ensure that we are aligned with the state government’s vision to maximise local and Bumiputera participation in SEB’s procurement and contract activities.
“We have formulated and are implementing an overall plan to ensure that our current and potential contractors are fully aware of the opportunities and incentives available.
“The objective of these new initiatives is to expand the pool of qualified local contractors that can participate in our projects,” said SEB Group Chief Executive Officer, Sharbini Suhaili at the launching of the two-day event.
Of the 340 contractors registered with SEB, about 80 percent are local Sarawakians.
SEB is aiming to grow this number through various initiatives to encourage and support local and Bumiputera participation and to expand the pool of qualified local contractors that can participate in its projects.
Contractors who attended the briefing also received 20 Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) points each, which will go towards the points required for them to renew their CIDB memberships.
Sharbini added that contractors with established track records of safety, environmental compliance and management and timely project delivery with high standards would have a distinct advantage in participating in Sarawak Energy’s procurement and contract activities.
“As SEB grows and transforms, we are benchmarking ourselves against the best-in-class utilities and multi-national corporations regionally and internationally,” he said in explaining the corporation’s push for continuous improvement both for itself and for its contractors.
He added that SEB wanted to conduct its business with the highest level of integrity and asked the contractors present to report any instances of deviations directly to the company.
SEB established a division to oversee Bumiputera participation in 2014, setting up a special committee at the board level called the Bumiputera Participation Board Committee (BPBC) a year later.
